Lovejoy's 14 hits not enough in 11-8 loss to Buda Hays in 4A softball final

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ELISABETH DILLON/Elisabeth Dillon

The Lewisville team celebrates receiving their trophy for winning the Class 5A softball state championship between Lewisville and Kingwood at Red and Charline McCombs Field in Austin on June 1, 2013. ORG XMIT: 00017640A

AUSTIN — A game with 32 hits is about as rare in softball as a chilly
championship weekend at Red & Charline McCombs Field. But in the Class 4A
state championship game Saturday, the difference was something that has
separated winners and losers for years: The timing of the hits.

While Lovejoy’s bats went cold late, Buda Hays got the hits when they were
needed most to pull out an 11-8 victory.

“They rallied with two outs. We did not,” Lovejoy coach Amanda Douglas said.
“We had opportunities.”

Had its defense only needed to get two outs each inning, Lovejoy (35-9)
would’ve won its first state title. In the first, fourth and seventh innings,
Hays (32-10) had two outs before rallying for runs.

The final two-out rally came in the top of the seventh, which began with the
score tied 8-8. Lovejoy’s Danielle Brochu, who pitched the final two innings in
relief of Brittany Lewis, struck out the first batter of the inning and got the
second out on a grounder. But Hays then hit five consecutive singles to score
three runs.

Lovejoy pounded out 14 hits in the game, but the Leopards missed some big
chances, including leaving the bases loaded in the bottom of the sixth.

“Around the sixth inning, it felt like we were about to bust it open,” said
catcher Amanda Gray, who had three hits and two RBIs. “We had runners on most
innings, or every inning, and we were just hitting it right to them.”

Lewis, who had thrown 164 pitches in Friday’s 12-inning semifinal victory,
threw 108 before leaving after the fifth. The senior hadn’t been feeling well
the last few days, Douglas said, and the muggy afternoon with temperatures in
the mid-90s didn’t help.

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